


It Was a Tuesday

by charlotte123456789



Series: Harry Potter One-Shots [39]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coincidences, Friendship, Gen, Help, Humor, Mystery solving, Nargles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29380578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlotte123456789/pseuds/charlotte123456789
Summary: It was a Tuesday. That meant everything was destined to go wrong.
Relationships: Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter
Series: Harry Potter One-Shots [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157993
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	It Was a Tuesday

It was a Tuesday.

That meant things were destined to go wrong.

Everybody had disputed his claim, told him he was being insane. _‘It’s all in your head Harry’,_ they said, nothing was going wrong.

But it was a Tuesday.

And everything that had ever seriously gone wrong in his life had happened on a Tuesday.

Sure, his parents had died on a Saturday, and his name was drawn from the goblet of fire on a Monday.

But all the meaningful little things; his homework going missing, only having odd socks, no treacle tart for dessert.

All of that _only_ happened on Tuesday.

Others may say it was just a coincidence, but Harry had been keeping records.

Tuesday 1 September 1998 - His school tie could not be found in any of his trunks no matter how hard he searched. The following day (a Wednesday) they were found folded up neatly beside his socks in the trunk.

Tuesday 8 September 1998 - His homework was gone, vanished, disappeared. He had purposefully left it on his bedside table in hopes of it not going missing. Yet it was all in vain, as it was a Tuesday, and that was just what happened on Tuesdays.

Tuesday 15 September 1998 - Treacle tart was not served. He had gone to the kitchens and specifically requested it from the house elves. He had written proof of them agreeing to make it and proof that they had indeed made it and was sent to him. _He did not receive it._

No matter what everyone tried to say to him, this was most certainly not _just a coincidence._

* * *

After everyone (Ron, Hermione, Ginny, etc.) he spoke to told him that there was nothing to investigate, he _knew_ he had to bring in the big guns.

This curse upon him must have been somehow confounding anybody he tried to speak to, _even_ if the day he tried to tell them _wasn’t_ a Tuesday.

It was time to bring in _Luna._

* * *

It was such a relief when Harry told her, and she immediately grasped the severity of the situation.

“Harry, you must have a large Nargle infestation following you around. With all this evidence I don’t know how anyone thought this was just a coincidence and not a serious problem.”

Harry nodded as she spoke.

Although Luna’s experience of a Nargle infestation in the previous years was exaggerated, due to the bullying going on at the time. Not _all_ the things she experienced could be linked, even though she had documented everything occurring like any proper researcher would.

Her shoes going missing could be attributed to Cho Chang and the others bullying her.

Her homework mysteriously vanishing could also be attributed to Cho Chang and her gang.

A _singular page_ from a whole notebook with information written about Crumple-horned snorkacks could not.

Why would bullies steal _just one page?_

It didn’t make any sense - bullies would just steal the whole notebook and be done with it.

It was proof that a Nargle infestation was real, and was also a real problem.

Luna identified a problem, figured out what it was and, most importantly, _fixed it._

She was exactly the right person to sort this out.

* * *

“The incidents are all happening on Tuesdays, so it’s likely that they thought you were smarter than the average wizard. Nargles are clever that way. Many people would just brush it off as a little thing going wrong. But the pattern must mean something. Maybe they all have other people they bother on other days? Nargles are well known for keeping a good routine.”

Luna was an absolute pro. Harry didn’t know why he hadn’t gone to her sooner.

No longer were his worries pushed aside as just a few inconveniences that all _just happen_ to occur on Tuesdays.

No, these occurrences weren't coincidences. They were a part of a long term, covert, aggressive attack on his psyche that Voldemort had put in place in the event of his death.

He must have been in cohorts with them for months, planning out what would happen in case the dark lost.

If neither could live while the other survived, then Voldemort would have made sure to have a plan in place to remove Harry from the mortal world soon after his own passing.

Harry and Luna guessed that it probably would have continued to be small things, slowly building up to larger oddities - all combining into one big calamity that would cause him to unravel at the seams and slowly lose his mind as nobody else understood what was happening.

It would have completely and utterly destroyed him. Luckily, they knew what they needed to do to prevent that from happening.

* * *

“Harry? You do, erm, _know_ what you’re wearing don’t you?”

“Yes. Whyever would I not know what I was wearing, Hermione? I put it on, after all.”

Harry stood by the Gryffindor table, ready to take on Tuesday 29 September. This time, the plan was going to work.

Last Tuesday (22 September) was supposed to have been the day to get the plan to work but unmentionable things happened and both swore one another to secrecy. That Tuesday no longer existed and if asked, Luna and Harry would swear they didn’t even know that September 1998 had four Tuesdays and not just three.

This Tuesday the plan would go off without a hitch, _it had to._

Which is what now led to Harry fully kitted out with the works; butterbeer cork necklaces, dried radishes for cufflinks, eye symbols affixed to every possible piece of clothing.

“Well, Harry. It just seems like, maybe you look a bit like Luna?” Hermione didn’t know how to phrase what she wanted to say without either insinuating that Harry had gone mad or that Luna was mad.

“Thanks ‘Mione! That’s exactly the look I was going for. Luna will be so pleased to hear that. This Tuesday is already going better than the others!” With that, Harry abandoned his soon-to-be breakfast at the Gryffindor table to go find Luna, and tell her that their plan was already working.

* * *

Now it was half past three. They had just nine and a half hours to go until the nargles would have to accept that their routine had been fully broken and they would be unable to seriously negatively impact his day.

So far they had been managing to throw the nargles off by doing the unexpected. No longer was Harry attending class; he had set up the nargles to have a false sense of security after breakfast by originally going to his first class, Astronomy, but he stood up and left midway through. Both Ron and Hermione had sent him questioning looks as he’d left but Hermione was obviously too dedicated to her education to leave and Ron desperately needed any help he could get. Anyways, it wasn’t as if an Astronomy lesson at 9 o’clock _in the morning_ would be of any real use.

Following on from that Harry had met up with Luna at their predetermined meeting point, by the portrait of a bowl of fruit, so that they could continue on with their plan. Both had checked one another were still properly protected from the wiles of the nargles. Extra radishes were applied where necessary, then they were off - off to the Black Lake, that is.

There, they had devised a plan to play rounds of skipping stones, practising their freezing charms _(revision is important),_ and adding in the odd game of hopscotch when required.

That had managed to get through a good few hours before they took a break for lunch, jam sandwiches kindly packaged for them by the houselves.

But now they were at a standstill; they had played all their games of hopscotch, thrown all the stones and were now quite successful with freezing charms _(revision works)_. And with nine and a half hours left to go know was not the time to dwindle.

They had to bring in back-up.

* * *

“So, I bet you are all wondering why I have gathered you all here today! In just a moment I will explain, but I share this now - this will be tough and challenging, and if any of you want to back out now, I would understand.”

Dubious glances and questioning looks was all he received back from the group lined in front of Harry and Luna, beside the lake.

“Harry, you do realise we all have literally _and physically_ fought on your side in a war, don’t you? I’m sure whatever this is we’ll all be here for you as well,” Neville spoke, clearly voicing all the others' thoughts. Ginny, Ron and Hermione nodded along.

Harry grinned. “I’m going to need you all to put on these necklaces, ignore the smell, and wear these bracelets as well. They will protect you from the nargles that are currently trying to take me down. You all must have noticed by now that all my Tuesdays are going desperately wrong. I won’t bore you with the details but this pattern is not _just a coincidence!_ Luna and I have undertaken hard research and now I am in the final part of our plan to remove them. We must destroy the routine!”

And with that Harry turned around to the lake and jumped in, Luna followed shortly.

After a moment during which a silent conversation of many glances, looks, shrugs and the occasional humm took place. The group still standing on the shore were in agreement. All donned the accessories and jumped in.

* * *

Swimming had taken up the rest of the afternoon. They would have been finished sooner, but it turned out that the giant squid was a poor loser who required _at least_ three more races across the lake before it _finally_ accepted that it just wasn’t the best at water skiing.

Now they just had just five more hours to contend with until the nargles would be forced to admit defeat and leave. Dinner was to be served in half an hour in the great hall, but none of them wanted to risk it; much too predictable to attend. Instead they were heading to the kitchens, because _although_ they needed to throw the nargles off, three hours of strenuous activity sure did leave you hungry.

Upon entering the kitchens the house-elves immediately swarmed them asking what they wanted to eat now, later, laundry, tidying? What did they need? It took a good few minutes to cajole them into silence but finally an order of doughnuts, chocolate frogs, ice-cream and butter bear was placed, much to the elves’ delight.

“Brilliant plan Luna! I never would have thought of having dessert first instead of dinner. Such a simple change but a significant one,” Harry was very pleased with how things were going. Only a few hours left and nothing had yet gone wrong. It appeared that the plan was working. Luna was still developing new sub-plans to implement to ensure that it all went off without a hitch.

The additional help that his friends had also provided could never have been predicted. The uncontrollable nature and strong wills that clashed meant that each and every decision was debated and argued so much so that the original plan was lost along the way. No way to have ever known where they would end up in the first place. It was simply marvelous.

Having wasted away the good remainder of the evening eating in the kitchens they now just had a single hour to go.

_Nothing could go wrong._

Until it did.

* * *

It was all going oh so well. Dinner had finally finished; with an hour to go, they had to then decide where to wait out the remaining 60 minutes until the nargles would flee to some other poor unsuspecting victim.

Obviously the common rooms were ruled out as no Gryffindor could enter the Ravenclaw rooms and vice versa. That left a limited number of options; a disused classroom, the Great Hall or the Room of Requirement. After a wholly democratic vote it was decided that the Room of Requirement was the place to go. Although it still bore the scars of the final battle on it’s walls, the large hole in the side was repaired and the original magics of the room still optimal. There, they could regroup, and wait out the final hour with the room to defend them if necessary.

That was the plan. That _was_ the plan.

What _wasn’t_ the plan was to walk into the room and _end up on the ceiling._

They were _on the ceiling._ None of them moved for a moment. What do they do? Admitting that this was something that was _definitely_ not in the plan would have been akin to them throwing up a white flag to the nargles and the whole day would have been a waste of time and effort.

So they took the only action that was left available to them; inaction.

They continued into the room as if nothing was any different to how they usually traipse about. Sure, they were _on the ceiling,_ but if they ignored that, then nothing else was different. _Obviously_ they had to be a bit more careful when pouring the tea and handing out the biscuits they were having, other than that it was business as usual. After all, it was only 30 more minutes then the Nargles would be gone. Tea and biscuits would fill up a good 20 minutes of that 30, so it _shouldn’t_ be too much of a problem to drag it out.

They just had to ignore that they were _on the ceiling._

25 minutes.

20 minutes.

15 minutes.

10 minutes.

5 minutes.

1 minute.

5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1…

The clock hit twelve and gravity was suddenly corrected as they all fell to the floor in a heap with only Hermione to thank for saving them with a quick _Arresto Momentum._

It was over.

The nargles had gone.

“Harry! The nargles have all gone! The second fully documented case of a nargle infestation and removal! We’ll make history. I must write to Mr Scamander immediately to show him I am fully capable of an apprenticeship,” Luna was thoroughly delighted with the outcome and it looked like Harry was just as pleased.

“Thank you Luna, and all of you too. I never could have done it without you. Luna, you write that letter and I’ll write on a note if you want. I’ve heard he’s not swayed by fame, but it might help and you deserve it. I have my Tuesdays back now and Voldemort will finally be vanquished once and for all.”

The others looked slightly dubious at that particular claim as they had never been fully invested in the Voldemort theory, however all were happy that Harry and Luna both seemed to be overjoyed with the results.

Of course it had to be Ron that butted in, “Mate, I’m happy for you an’ everything but I have Transfiguration tomorrow morning and still have homework to get done, so can we all celebrate later on? ‘Cause McGonagall will kill me if I don’t turn up with it.”

They all laughed and said good night to one another before parting ways; Luna to write her letter, Ron to the Library to do his homework and Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Neville to bed.

* * *

“I don’t know why he wouldn’t accept you Luna, it laid out everything that had happened clearly and every action we took to resolve the issue calmly and peacefully. No violence was necessary. Perfect! Plus all the additional research on your other creatures. I’m sure you’ll get a reply back soon.”

It had been two and a bit weeks since _The Tuesday_ . Luckily nothing of consequence had happened on any Tuesday after. It looked like the nargles had left for good. Harry still felt a bit nervous about Tuesdays after everything that had happened, but he supposed that was to be expected. It would take some time before he fully accepted that Tuesdays were no longer days of death and destruction, no more strange _coincidences_ occurring every Tuesday that were just destined to ruin his day.

Life was good.

Life _was_ good.

Then Ron just had to open his big mouth, “Hey guys. Strange coincidence but last Friday my broom went missing and today my homework seems to be written in Greek, which I know _I_ didn’t write it in. Anybody know a good translation charm?”

Harry let his head fall against the table as he mourned his loss. _Were not even Fridays sacred now?_

Anyhow, he and Luna were experts. They’d get this sorted. After all, Ron liked treacle tart too. If he wanted it for dinner on a Friday, and it didn’t show up… then he would _not_ be held accountable for his actions.


End file.
